All to Myself
by DCFanatic4life
Summary: AU. Go on some blind dates they said. It'll be for YouTube they said. Dolph Ziggler has no idea what he just signed up for.
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer: I do not own the characters or real people involved in this story. The characters belong to WWE, and the real people own themselves. This is a work of fiction. There will be swearing, and maybe some adult situations. If this offends you, maybe this isn't the right story for you.**

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A/N: Another new Dolph/AJ story from me, I love them, I can't help it! Anyways, this story was an idea from Jodi (StephanieIrvine), and it's based around the "Outside the Ring" video where Dolph goes on 5 blind dates (if you haven't seen the video, it's on YouTube, and I highly recommend it because he's ridiculously adorkable in it).

It's an AU in that AJ is not part of the wrestling business. It'll become clearer once you read it. I'm still wary of posting for this couple, though I feel like I'm getting better with it. So reviews are just the best thing ever, and if you could leave me some, that'd be great. Tell me if you want to continue or not, and I'm a big girl so if you want to be brutal, go right ahead.

Hope you enjoy! :)

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There were a lot of single guys in the WWE.

Yet, here he was, about to go on not one, not two, not three, but five, _five_ blind dates. And lucky him, he got to have it filmed for all the world to see. The worst part was that it did not fit with his personality, not the one he projected to the world, that guy was a ladies man to a fault, always talking about how he was stealing the show and people's girlfriends. In real life, that was about as far from the truth as possible. Sure, he had some game, but he wasn't the most suave man on the planet, and now he was forced to be something he wasn't to a bunch of strange women.

The cameras followed him inside and he went and sat at a table. The rest of the restaurant was empty, which just made this even more uncomfortable for him. It wasn't like he needed a girlfriend right now. He was just out of a relationship a few months before, and he wasn't exactly screaming for a new girlfriend, especially one that wasn't going to understand the business or be able to travel with him. This was going to be a disaster, he could just feel it.

The first four dates passed in a blur. One of them was a fashion designer, or so she claimed, another was model, again so she claimed. Actually, scratch that, model was just one of the five things she said she did. He could actually picture her as a waitress trying to make it any of those other professions, but he was too much of a gentleman to say anything. One of them kept looking at him like he was a criminal after he said he was a professional wrestler, and one reminded him too much of Vickie, who he liked as a friend, but did not want to date. None of them grabbed him, and they all liked Dane Cook, which was a deal-breaker in and of itself.

By the fifth girl, he was about ready to throw this salad in Vince McMahon's face for ever approving of this YouTube show. Then he'd throw the water in his face too and walk out with his head held high. He didn't sign up for a dating service. He signed up to be a wrestler. This was not wrestling; this wasn't even real life. And if he never heard the name Dane Cook again, it would be too soon. At least there was just one more left. Only one of the four previous girls had even held his attention for more than five minutes, but when he intimated that he would hang out with her outside of the show, she'd shot him down.

He wished he could say that was his first rejection, but he'd been through it before, and he'd be through it again so he took it with the grace and aplomb necessary of the situation. It was probably better anyways. He lived in Phoenix and these girls lived in LA, and that wasn't close. Now he was just justifying being rejected. Maybe he should pre-reject this last girl so the pressure was off this date.

"Dolph Ziggler?" a timid voice spoke up, and he threw his head up, throwing on his best fake smile. He was surprised because she looked nothing like the other girls.

She was petite with dark hair, wavy and loose around her face. She was wearing black-rimmed glasses, and while all the other girls had dressed to look provocative, she was dressed for comfortableness. Her dress didn't give away any cleavage, and it wasn't tight or short. It was black with a little cut out on the top and not spaghetti strapped or intricate. It almost had sleeves, but not quite, and there appeared to be a skeleton design down one-half of the front, going off into a slightly flared skirt. She wasn't wearing high heels, and doesn't look like the type of girl that would wear them under any circumstances. Instead, she was wearing a pair of light blue high top Converse.

She was different, he could tell already. She didn't go up and immediately hug him or start putting on some bubbly personality. Instead, she gave him a shy smile, sticking out her hand almost awkwardly and he took it, shaking it before she pulled it back. "Hi," he said, giving her a welcoming smile, hoping it would lighten her up a little. She gave him a tentative smile back.

"Hey, so you're Dolph, yes?" she asked again, and he realized he never actually said anything to the affirmative, though she probably knew who he was, all things considered.

He nodded his head, "Yeah, I'm Dolph, Dolph Ziggler, or if you prefer, Ziggler, Dolph Ziggler," he finished in a really bad British accent, hoping to make her laugh. She did, just a little and it eased her up a little bit.

"I'm April," she told him, "but you can call me AJ."

"AJ, cool name, what's the J stand for?" he wondered.

"Jeannette," she answered, "April Jeannette, but I just prefer AJ, I think it's better, suits me, really."

"You _do_ look like an AJ," he told her nicely. He lead her over to their table, where there's his fifth salad and water waiting. He pulled out the seat for her, and she took a seat, biting her lip and staring a little bit at the camera, as if were going to jump at her and eat her. "Don't mind the cameras, they're not allowed to talk to us."

She looked down at her plate and back up at him, "Okay, I'll try. So…I've never really done this before."

"You've never been on a date?" he asked. She did look young, but not _that_ young.

"No, no, no," she shook her head vigorously, sending her hair into her face. She quickly brushed it out of the way, messing up her hair in the process. He didn't have the heart to tell her that she had one strand that was so far out of place that it was about to fall in her face. When it did, she blew it out of the way impatiently, but it kept coming back so she finally reached up her hand and pushed it out of the way. "I just mean like blind date in front of camera thing."

"It's okay, it's my first time too, well, my fifth first time."

"And knowing I'm the fifth girl you've been on a date with is a little awkward," she told him, biting her lip.

"I'll try to make it painless," he promised her. "So what do you do?"

"I work for DC Comics, I'm a little bit of a comic nerd," she told him, "it's something I always wanted to do. I mean, it's not much, I don't do anything big, I'm just an editor, so it's not really a big deal."

"That's really cool," he said, though he wasn't such a huge comic fan. He'd read some every now and then, but it wasn't really his thing. Although he knew a couple of guys in the business who would practically be drooling over her for that fact alone. "I bet you're really good."

"I try," she shrugged. He was just glad to hear that she wasn't a "model" or a "fashion designer." "What do you do?"

"I'm a wrestler."

"Oh wow, like, the kind that go to the Olympics or the kind that has entrance music and stuff?"

"Well, I did wrestle as an amateur, but I didn't go to the Olympics, just up until college, then I became a professional wrestler."

"Cool, cool," AJ nodded, "so we're both kind of in professions where things are a little bit crazy, huh?"

"Yeah, it would seem so," he told her, "so you like comics?"

"I do, and you like…"

"A lot of things," he told her, wishing the conversation could be better. This girl wasn't like the others, but it was more of the same awkwardness, and this whole thing was just such a disastrous idea. He was crashing and burning, and his reputation as being smooth was shattered going to be shattered forever. At least people would get a kick out of his utter failure. Maybe they'd even laugh at him.

"Name one," she ordered him.

"Well, I like comedy, stand-up I mean, do you have a favorite stand-up comedian?" he asked her, fully expecting another Dane Cook answer. He'd perfected his fake smile over that even as he muttered curse words after they said it.

"Well, I really enjoy observational humor the best, and I kind of have love for Donald Glover and Stephen Merchant right now. And I know they were both actors first, but if you've seen any of their specials, they are actually really great at stand-up."

"I haven't, but now I'm actually interested," Dolph was just happy she didn't say Dane Cook, but that didn't mean he was in the clear, "So what do you think of say…Dane Cook?"

"No thank you, I have taste," she laughed, taking a sip of her water.

"Thank God, if I had to hear one more woman say they liked him," he shook his head, "I would have probably cracked and gone crazy. So, do you like your salad?"

"As far as salads go, it's great," she told him, "so what are you looking for in a woman or a relationship?" She warily eyed the cameras again, and yeah, she wasn't made for cameras, he could tell. She kept gulping and drinking water so fast she was almost done with hers. The other girls seemed to love having the camera there, playing it up, tossing their hair back and puckering their lips.

"Well, I like smart, independent women who can really go toe-to-toe with me."

"That's cool," she said, pushing the lettuce around the plate.

"So uh…what do you do for relaxation?" he asked her. "Wait, let me guess, you…read comic books?"

"Pretty much, or I play video games or watch TV…wow, when I put it like that, I sound really boring."

"No, you don't sound boring," he told her, but she was so different from anything he was looking for. They seemingly had nothing in common, and while she was better than the rest of the girls, she wasn't his type, he could tell already. That didn't mean they couldn't enjoy a nice…salad though.

"Thanks," she told him. They made small talk the rest of the meal, but both of them could read the writing on the wall.

"Let me walk you out?" Dolph said as they stood up to say goodbye.

"That's alright," she shook her head, "I think I can manage. It was really nice meeting you though, and I hope you do well with your wrestling."

"And you with the comic books," he nodded his head at her. She shook his hand again and then she was gone.

He let out a breath he had been holding in for hours now and sat down heavily. "I'm so glad I'm done with that. Remind me to never go on a blind date for the rest of my life. I'm so done with that."

The camera crew laughed as they packed up. He sat there for a few minutes more, wondering if he could have a stiff drink sent to him. He opted for getting out of here and getting the first plane back to Phoenix. He wanted his bed, and he wanted his house, and his clothes, and he wanted to do nothing for the rest of his time off. He stood up and walked out of the restaurant. He turned to walk to his rental when he saw AJ sitting down on bench just outside.

"AJ?"

She looked up and smiled at him, "Sorry, just waiting for my ride."

"If you need a ride, I don't really have anywhere to be," he told her. "I could take you where you need to be."

"Yeah, get in a car with a complete stranger…not my idea of a good idea," she joked.

"Hey, we just went on a super awkward date, I think that can qualify me for driving you where you need to be," he told her with a shrug. "I mean, you don't have to take me up on the offer, but if you think I'm going to let you sit here alone, not going to happen."

He went over and plopped himself down next to her on the bench. "You really don't have to stay."

"I know I don't, but I'm not about to leave you here, that's rude, I'm not a rude guy, horribly awkward, sure, but not rude," he told her and she laughed, much freer than she had inside. "Trust me, I didn't like the cameras being there either."

"I'm so glad it wasn't just me," she pushed her glasses up. "I felt so awkward, I'm not usually such a weirdo…okay, yes I am, but not that big a one."

He ducked his head, "Me neither, I promise you, I'm not a creep and I don't like salad _that_ much." She got a guffaw out of her and he laughed because she was actually a lot cuter when the pressure of the camera was off. "Hey, since you have no ride and I have nowhere to be, why don't we get a real meal, something with meat?"

"I know a good burger place that's not far," she told him.

"A burger sounds like heaven right now," he told her. "We can do this date thing over again and maybe without the added pressure? To be honest, you're the only girl who was remotely interesting and who wasn't trying to make it as an actress or something."

AJ pulled her fingers through her hair, "Wow, actress, I could never…but yeah, I wouldn't mind trying this over again."

"Well then, first things first, my name is Nick, and it's nice to meet you," he told her, sticking his hand out again. She tilted her head and he explained further. "Dolph Ziggler is my wrestling name, my real name is Nick Nemeth."

"Nice to meet you, Nick, I'm still AJ, AJ Mendez," she told him, shaking his hand again.

He tugged on her hand, "Come on, let's see if we can do this whole thing better."

"Here's hoping."


	2. Chapter 2

A/N: Thank you for all the lovely reviews, I'm so happy you enjoyed the first chapter, and I really hope you enjoy this one as well. Review if you'd like. :)

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"I told you this place was good."

"I'm just glad it's not as stuffy as that other place was, not to mention, we were the only ones in there, so it made it uncomfortable on top of everything else," Dolph said, grabbing an onion ring off his plate and eating it. AJ took a bite of her burger, chewing thoughtfully as she looked at him.

This date was a lot more comfortable than the first had been. They could just be themselves now, without a camera filming them or Dolph having to feel like he was on all the time. Sometimes it could be exhausting keeping up his character. He wasn't actually as loud and bold as he portrayed himself to be, and sometimes he just wanted a nice conversation with a pretty girl who was eating a burger bigger than his _and_ chasing it down with a vanilla milkshake.

"So why did you agree to do the whole blind date thing in the first place if you hated the idea?" AJ asked, licking a little bit if ketchup in the corner of her mouth. "I mean, you didn't look like you were having fun, and I was the fifth girl so the ones before me had to be pretty terrible."

"They were," Dolph rolled his eyes, "none of them were real, you know what I mean. I'm sure they thought about how this was going to be filmed and they wanted to jump at the chance. It's annoying, not that I was actually really looking."

"Oh, so you're not interested in seeing anyone?" she asked curiously. For a moment he might think her offended, but she gave him such a warm smile that he felt a lot more at ease than even just a few moments before.

"Well, I wouldn't say that," he told her, "I just don't think it should be under those circumstances. Those girls weren't interested in me, they were interested in getting on camera, then when I told them what I actually do for a living, I could practically see them all put the brakes on."

"I think it's kind of cool," AJ shrugged one shoulder as she nibbled on a French fry. "It's just, I don't know, it's cool that you do what you love, but that you do something that takes you to all those different places. I don't really travel all that much. I mean, I grew up in New Jersey, but after college, I moved out here, and I've been here ever since. But you get to go all over the world, and that's exciting."

"It is pretty cool," he nodded, "but then it's always nice to get back home. You can never underestimate how good your own bed feels like when you climb into it after being away for weeks. Sometimes we do international tours and they can be difficult."

"I bet," AJ nodded, "I can't imagine doing that, but it must be fun, and you must be good at it if they want to feature you in a video."

"Well, my nickname is The Show-Off."

"Should I even try and guess why?" AJ laughed, but then asked, "So is that you're like, um, character?"

"Gimmick, we usually call it a gimmick, but yeah, I play the cocky guy, the one who is always trying to steal the shows and all that. My catchphrase is, 'Stealing the show…and your girlfriend."

"So you're a ladies' man type? That would explain the five dates in one sitting," she joked, stealing an onion ring from his plate and eating it with a look of victory on her face. He reached over and stole one of her French fries in retaliation.

"That's who I play, and I guess they were trying to play that up, but it was still stupid, and I felt stupid having to do that," he sighed. "So, what's your story? I mean, why did _you_ sign up for a dating service? You don't exactly look like the type who would want to do that."

"I'm not," AJ shrugged. "My best friend, well, she thought I should go out more. Her name's Dianna, and she said I need to get out more or whatever, get a boyfriend, so she signed me up, largely against my wishes, but when you came up, I don't know, I figured, what the hell, I'll give it a try, you know, what's there to lose?"

"Well, so, are you looking for someone?" he asked. "Or just like someone to casually go out with?"

"I'm not even really sure," AJ bit her lip, sliding around one fry in the pool of ketchup on her plate. She watched herself do that for a few moments before she looked up at him. "I guess I would, I just never really thought about it. I've always been…well, kind of nerdy and dorky, not the type of girl you take to prom or whatever. I just don't stand out."

"You stood out to me," he told her, "after the other four girls, you were a breath of fresh air."

"Really?" AJ's look of concern turned into a small smile. "You really thought that I was a breath of fresh air?"

"Yeah, they were _all_ the same woman except they looked different. Every single one of them was just…worse than the next, and boring, and they all liked Dane Cook, which made me want to drown myself in my glass of water. They all had the same personality, and I need someone that can keep up with me, you know. Then you walked in, and you were obviously shy, and you didn't try to flaunt yourself, and it was nice."

AJ ducked her head down as if trying to shy away from him, "Thanks, that's really nice."

"You're cute," Dolph told her, "And you act like you don't know how pretty you actually are."

He could see AJ start to blush, but it only made her prettier. There weren't enough women in his life who blushed. He worked with divas, and the name fit for a lot of them. They knew how pretty they were, and if you complimented them, they would try to act like it didn't matter, like they didn't know, but they did. AJ didn't know she was beautiful, he could tell. It was in the way she carried herself, the way she constantly let her hair form this curtain around her. She blushed, and it was genuine.

"Stop," she said, not knowing what to say.

"Not going to stop, sorry," he told her, "I'm actually having a really good time with you. You're not like anyone I've ever known, but I can tell you're awesome, I really like that I came out with you again."

"I am too," she told him, finally revealing her face from beyond the curtain of hair. "You're actually not so bad when the cameras aren't on you, I kind of like Nick better than I liked Dolph. Nick is a really nice guy."

"He tries to be," Dolph told her, "I really just play it up for the cameras, as you can see, I'm not exactly the smoothest guy around."

"You're pretty smooth," AJ told him, smiling brighter now. "I mean, you did get me to go on a second date with you in one day. But, I don't put out until the third date."

"So what are you doing for dinner tonight then?" Dolph asked her and she covered her face in embarrassment as Dolph laughed uproariously, actually causing a few other customers to look in his direction.

AJ peeked her face through her hands, "Okay, maybe this is just a second first date then."

"Okay, well, if it _has_ to be," he joked. "Best second first date I've had. Maybe that dating service actually got something right, not that I would ever admit that to anyone. Actually, if I could just strike the rest of the dates from the record of history, that'd be great."

"Clearly we're meant to go on an elaborate heist to steal the tapes from earlier so nobody ever has to see them," AJ whispered to him, like they were really about to make a plan.

"It would be better if we had superhero costumes, you know, to disguise our identities, since you work with comic books, do you have any superhero costumes."

"I have a Batgirl costume," she told him.

"Wow, I actually would like to see you in that sometime," Dolph told her and she blushed again. "I like that you can keep up with me, and I like when you blush, it's actually…I'm not really surrounded by a lot of women like you, you're just such a great change of pace."

"That's a compliment, right?"

"Yeah, believe me, that's a compliment," he nodded, "I just wanted you to know that I'm actually really having fun with you right now, and I kind of don't want this to end. What's there to do around here that's fun?"

"Wow, I'm not even sure…"

"Do you think you might want to find something fun to do with me for the rest of the day, that way when I take you out to dinner tonight, we'll still only be on our second first date, and you won't have to put out," he winked at her, making her blush yet again. He decided he never wanted that rosy, pink glow to leave her face.

"You want to spend the rest of the day with me?" she seemed surprised that he wanted to be in her company. Her insecurities somehow made her even prettier. He was sure she wasn't used to a guy paying her so much attention, and he decided he wanted to be that guy. He was actually really grateful he'd met her now.

"Yeah, I do," he told her, "I'm having fun, and I kind of don't want the fun to end. We could do anything, go shopping, um, the movies, other things around here that I'm not familiar with. I'm really up for anything. I'm pretty adventurous when I want to be."

"There's a beach close by, we could go and take a walk or something, I mean, is that cheesy? We're probably not dressed for that—"

"No, it's cool, I like that idea," he told her, "it'll give us time to get to know each other more, and it won't cost anything, which means I can take you somewhere fancy for dinner where I'll name drop, and they won't know who I am, so I'll slip them a twenty to get us in, something like that."

She giggled, "Name drop?"

"Hey, sometimes people know wrestlers, I'm semi-famous," he told her, "there's actually a couple people at a table over there that really want to come over here and talk to me. I know because they keep looking over here, so it's either that or they think you're the prettiest girl in here and they want to hit on you."

"Okay, now you're just being too nice," AJ bit her lip.

"Nah, this is how I am when I like someone a lot," he told her and she beamed at him. He was glad he'd stayed for that fifth date. If going through those four vapid women meant he got to meet AJ, he would gladly go through them again. "You know, your necklace is really cool, why do you wear it?"

AJ fingered the skull necklace around her neck. "Oh, it's just cool, I liked it, that's all."

"Oh good, because there was one girl today who had a skull on her purse and she started talking about how it warded away evil spirits, and I was sitting there thinking about how ridiculous that is."

"Oh, but there are spirits, I mean, how do you explain Casper?" AJ asked.

"You've got me on that one," he said, "I like that you just wear necklaces because you like them."

"That's generally why I wear anything, Nick," AJ told him and he licked his lips and looked down at her plate. "For someone who plays a ladies' man…"

"I told you, it's a gimmick, actually, I'm pretty…not used to this. I mean, I am, but in the wrestling business, it's just…it's different, you know, I'm gone so much, but…I want to spend time with you, and at least I kind of live close by, but hey, I'm getting ahead of myself now. We'll see how the rest of the day goes, and after that, we'll…whatever."

"Yeah, let's just see how the rest of the day goes."


	3. Chapter 3

A/N: Thanks so much guys for the reviews and everything for the story, always appreciated. Kind of speeding up in this story because everything thus far has been a set-up for when I get to the actual story I want to tell, which is coming soon, but until then, I hope you enjoy, review if you want! :)

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"Hey, I figured you would have a bigger office."

AJ looked up from her desk and squealed, "What are you doing here?"

"What? A guy can't come see his girlfriend unexpectedly?" Dolph asked with a shrug as he leaned in her doorway. "This office is tiny."

"But mine," she said, coming around her desk and rushing towards him, throwing her arms around him as she buried her face in his neck, taking in his familiar scent. She missed it when he was gone, which, unfortunately with his work, was a lot, but they were making it work.

After their horrendous first date and their wonderful second first date, she'd given him her number, not expecting him to call. She didn't know why, but he seemed like the guy who might be too busy for a girlfriend, but she was wrong. He called her the next day saying he'd love to see her again, and asking if that day was too much too soon. She loved his candor, and she loved the way he sounded nervous, like he wasn't sure _she_ would want to see him again.

That was three months ago.

Since then, they were making it work. Was it hard sometimes? Absolutely, and she wasn't going to lie, having a boyfriend who traveled so much was awkward at first, but recently, he'd done something quite unexpected. He'd moved to Los Angeles. He told her he'd always loved the city, and while Phoenix would always hold a place in his heart, there were better things in Los Angeles. Plus, he knew people there, his friend Mike lived there, although Dolph would tell you that they were really enemies, and that he hated him, but he was like that and she kind of loved it.

Like she kind of loved him.

Okay, so she definitely loved him, but she was still a little afraid to say it. The time they spent together was so scarce, she wondered if it was too soon to say it. He hadn't said it yet, and she wasn't sure she wanted to be the first one to say it. So she held her tongue when it came to that, instead trying to show him how much she loved him when he was around without actually saying the words.

"I thought you weren't going to be here until tomorrow," she said to him. "I thought you said you had to film SmackDown."

"They didn't need me," he shrugged, but she could tell he was a little put out by that. "So, I caught the first flight home so I could spend as much time with you. Plus, no live event on Friday, so I don't have to leave until then."

"So you mean I get until Friday to be with you?" AJ asked, her face brightening up as she thought about so many consecutive days with her boyfriend. "Wow, what am I going to do with you while you're actually home? You know, there are some things I haven't been able to reach on the top shelf of my apartment…"

He laughed and hugged her again. "I missed you."

"The feeling is sort of mutual…wait, how did you get in here?" AJ asked. "You need to have clearance to get into the building, you know, to keep out the creeps who want to come in here and find out what the next issue of something is going to be like. We like to keep the nerdy riff-raff away."

"Well, I snuck in through the air vents like a real superhero would do—"

"Baby," she interrupted, "a superhero would have had a grapple hook and come up through the roof or something, or bust in through the window on a web."

"God, you're kind of hot when you're being really nerdy," he told her, taking her face in his hands and giving her a kiss. She leaned up on her toes to get a better angle, but pulled away before it could get heated because there were people still working, and she didn't want to get caught making out with her boyfriend. Instead, she pulled him into her office and closed the door.

This was the first time he'd been able to visit her at the office. When he came home, he would usually go straight to his place to relax while he could, and she would meet up with him later. He looked around the small space, covered in different memorabilia, everything from Batman and Superman to My Little Pony and Strawberry Shortcake. It was scattered all over her shelves and desk, along with various pages from comics and storyboards.

"Were you busy?" he asked.

"Not really," AJ told him, brushing a script aside. "I was just going over a story idea. I also do stuff with continuity, so I'm researching, it's all very boring stuff, I assure you, your presence is most welcome."

"Only boring for you, I bet all the comic book nerds out there think you are living the dream, babe," he said, taking a seat on the one other seat in the office. Actually, there was another chair, but it had a bunch of binders piled on top of it.

"You never did explain how you got in here," AJ sat back down at her desk. Dolph had to admit she looked cute sitting behind her desk. AJ was nothing like the girls he'd dated before. His last serious girlfriend was one of his coworkers, Nikki, which lasted a while, and she was nothing like AJ. AJ was just…different from all the other girls, and he liked that difference. She was sweet, but fiery, passionate, and dorky, and he loved every bit of her.

He just kind of didn't know how to tell her that without sounding awkward. He wanted to tell her he loved her, but there was just no right moment to do so. He kept trying to find it, hoping it would present itself with some kind of sweeping sign, but every time he thought it might be the right moment, something came up to halt it. So he sat on his love, and it was frustrating, but he would know when it was right. He would know when the words would be welcomed and reciprocated.

"The front desk recognized me, they thought I was here doing some sort of appearance," he shrugged.

"So you got recognized?" AJ asked. She would never get used to that. Without fail, whenever they went out, people would come up to him and ask for pictures and autographs. The first time it happened, AJ just stood there in awe, watching as Dolph politely signed their stuff and took pictures, but then said he had to go, grabbing AJ's hand and walking off. He seemed so at ease she figured it happened often, and now she knew it did. Still, him getting recognized by fans (her boyfriend had fans!) was something of a shellshock for her.

"Yes, I got recognized."

"That's so cool," she grinned, "did anyone recognize you on the way up?"

"Well, I'm not in my ring attire, plus the hat," he pointed to the baseball cap. "I used my public identity at the front desk so they would let me in to see you, but then I used my secret, normal identity to get up here without being noticed."

"Now _that's_ a superhero move," she told him with a wink. "I can't believe you're here, I kind of want to introduce you around, but I kind of don't because I want you all to myself for today…and the entire time you're here."

"There's always tomorrow, I can swing by," Dolph told her, "unless you can get the day off?"

"I don't know," AJ said. "I mean, I guess I could call in sick, but I haven't established yet that I'm not feeling well. It's important to set that kind of precedence."

"If you can't, it's cool, I can still take you to lunch, right?" he wondered.

"Of course you can, baby," she smiled at him. "I just can't believe you're actually here. I was really kind of bored and you showed up, and now you're here, and it's amazing, but why weren't you on SmackDown?"

He shrugged, "I don't know, wasn't needed. Not even sure they know what to do with me right now? They say they have plans, you know, but right now they're really hazy and everything. They told me I'm going to be the first person in the Royal Rumble, but I'm not going to win, at least not as of right now."

"First is bad, right?" she asked. She'd been spending a lot of time watching wrestling, Dolph bringing over wrestling DVD's. She'd probably seen hundreds of his matches already, dating back to when he was posing as a male cheerleader, and even some when he was still training in FCW, but she was still learning about wrestling. The funny thing was she absolutely loved it. She gobbled up any information he gave her, and even when he was gone, she devoured DVD's, watching the matches he wasn't even in.

She had yet to visit him, but with her vacation time piling up, she was planning a trip where she could travel with him for a few weeks. For years she'd never really taken vacations, so she had a huge chunk of time to spare, and she couldn't think of anything better than being there with her boyfriend and actually experiencing what he did for a living. There was only so much you could understand from watching the shows. Her plan right now was to go around WrestleMania because he said that was the biggest event of the year, and even _she_ knew that one.

"It's not great," he chuckled mirthlessly. "I think they're going to make a huge deal out of me being first, but you'd think that maybe that would translate to winning it, but because of my briefcase. They said they're going to have me cash it in soon, but when's soon, you know…"

"Plus, I know it's bothering you that you've been losing so much," she told him, giving him a sympathetic look.

"It is what it is, you know," he shrugged, "I can't control it. They know I make all the other guys look good, and it's just not my turn to look good. They told me that I can lose and the fans will still be behind me."

"That's silly," AJ said, shaking her head, and wishing her boyfriend could have more say in what he did. "If you're going to be a champion, you should be made to look strong, especially since you broke apart with Vickie, this is your time to look like a true champion, standing on your own as you are."

"Yeah, I know," he told her. "Thanks for believing in me."

"You're amazing," she told him sweetly, her face breaking out into a grin. His did too, however involuntarily. His girlfriend loved watching him, and her sharing in his passion for the sport only made him love her more. "You make every move you take look great, you sell really well."

"You're getting the hang of it," he beamed, and she puffed her chest out a little with pride.

"I know you're going to be great soon, baby, they told you that you'll be getting the championship, and it's going to be such a huge deal, and you're going to be so happy, and I'm going to be so proud of you," AJ told him, and she would be. She knew enough about the sport to know that the World Heavyweight Championship held a lot of history. It was so strange to think her boyfriend was going to be part of that lineage.

She'd never had a boyfriend in the public spotlight before, so she was really getting used to the idea that her boyfriend was famous, in whatever sense it was, he was famous to a lot of people. Then there was her, in all her geeky glory, working day in and day out in a tiny office surrounded by other geeks, working on comic books. One time, she'd looked him up on the internet out of curiosity to see what kind of fanbase he actually had. It turned out that his fanbase was rather large, fansites galore, and apparently an entire army of women willing to sleep with him.

She didn't blame them really, he was great in bed.

But sometimes, when she thought about it, when she thought about all the gorgeous women in his world, and all the countless gorgeous women who would be more than willing to be with him, she wondered just why he wanted to be with her. Deep down, she was still the insecure teenager who never had a single boy look her way. Now she had this guy who so many women drooled over, and what made her the one? Why was she even special?

"I want you to be there," he told her, locking his light blue eyes with hers. "Whenever they tell me I'm getting it, I want you there. I'll fly you out myself."

"You'll sprout wings?"

"You spend too much time around here," he waved his finger around her office. "I want you to be there to celebrate with me."

"Of course, I'll drop everything," she told him, "I'm definitely going to be proud of you, I know how hard you work, baby, and I want that for you. I've seen your early stuff, and believe me, you deserve it."

He came over and knelt down in front of her, swinging her chair so she was facing him. "I better go, huh?"

"Yeah, I have work, but will you be at your place?"

"Yeah, I will," he told her, cupping her face and kissing her again. "You sure you can't ditch for the rest of the day?"

"Probably not a great idea," she said, wishing she could. He shrugged and hugged her. "I'll see you later though, we'll watch more wrestling."

He laughed, "You want to watch even more? You don't have to watch every show ever, you know."

"I know, but I like it."

This was why he loved her.


	4. Chapter 4

A/N: Yes, I know our ship pretty much crashed and burned last night, but that's what fanfiction is for, isn't it? Anyways, this is a happy story, so hopefully after the horribleness that was last night, this can make you feel slightly better. Hope you enjoy, reviews are lovely! :)

* * *

"Do you have a pass to get in?"

"Oh, I'm sorry, of course, yes, sorry," AJ stuttered out, reaching over and grabbing her trust messenger bag that she never went anywhere without, rooting through it, trying to look for the pass her boyfriend sent her so she could get into the parking lot. She looked up guiltily at the security guard, who was just staring at her with disinterest. "I'm Dolph Ziggler's girlfriend."

"Okay," he said, not caring. She gave him an awkward smile before burying her head back into the bag.

"I know I brought it with me, I'm sorry, I'm just disorganized today. I was running late, and I live in Los Angeles so I had to drive all the way down here to San Diego, and there's traffic because it's Tuesday, and…you don't really care, do you?"

"Nope," he told her, "I just need to see your pass."

"I swear I'm not a groupie!" AJ told him, but that didn't go over well. She finally found the envelope with the pass at the bottom of her bag. "Oops, got it, got it!" She plucked it out and handed it over to the security guard. "Kind of like the golden ticket, huh?"

"Go ahead in," he said, giving her the pass back. "You'll want to keep that on your person to actually get in the building."

"Yes, thank you," AJ said, driving into the parking lot and looking for a space. She wasn't the best at parking so she parked a little ways away where there were no cars on either side of her. She didn't need to dent another person's car. She turned off the engine and gave herself a once over in the mirror.

Tonight was the first time she was ever going to see her boyfriend wrestle, and for some reason, this made her incredibly nervous. Maybe it wasn't so much seeing him actually wrestle but being around his coworkers for the first time. She'd never been in this type of environment, so she didn't know what to expect. It didn't help that she had to drive the three hours (traffic!) from Los Angeles to San Diego by herself, coming up with a myriad of reasons why everyone she met would hate her.

She was an insecure person at heart. Before she met Dolph, she'd checked herself in the mirror about fifteen times, and she was not a girl who cared about what she looked like normally, but she'd been so nervous that he would think her homely or downright ugly, she kept touching up her make up and primping her hair. She wasn't even sure she would like Dolph, but she didn't want to make a bad first impression.

The same thing was happening here. When he was in LA, they were in a bubble. His work life didn't factor into their daily lives. He didn't have many people he knew in the business in LA (although he had a lot of comedian friends, and one really mouthy ex-girlfriend), so they lived outside of it all. Now she was going to be thrust into this unknown world, and she didn't even know what to expect, and that scared her.

She didn't want to come off as plain or have people make fun of Dolph for dating someone like her. She wasn't gorgeous or busty, she wasn't tall or outgoing. She was just a short, dorky, flat-chested geek, and what if people didn't think she was good enough for a guy like him. Girls openly ogled him, and nobody ever ogled her.

She shook her head free of these thoughts and got out of her car, slinging her bag over her shoulder. She looked around and she could see a few people here and there getting out of their own cars, but none of them appeared to be wrestlers. Dolph told her they all arrived fairly early in the day, so she wasn't sure who these people were, but they looked a lot more self-assured than she did. She walked meekly towards the doors, seeing that there were actually fans hanging around, probably trying to see someone they knew.

She walked up to the security gate and stopped, "Badge, please."

"Here you go," she said, holding up the pass. The guy let her in and she walked past him and into the building. Only then did it occur to her that she should probably call her boyfriend. He'd flown straight to San Diego from Las Vegas the night before so she hadn't seen him since last week. She ducked into a side hallway and pulled out her phone from her bag, dialing his number.

"Hey, babe, where are you?" he asked immediately upon answering the phone.

"I'm in the building, I'm just kind of a little lost," she said as someone walked by. They eyed her a little bit, probably because they'd never seen her before, and she wished she could just melt into the wall.

"Oh man, why didn't you tell me, are you still near the door?"

"Um, yeah, sort of, I can go back to it," she said, "I'm not that far."

"Okay, stay there or go there, whatevs, I'll be right by to come get you," he told her.

"I'll be here," she told him, hanging up the call and feeling alone again. She walked back to the door so he could find her, and waited, watching as people hustled by her, not even sparing her a glance. She'd worn a pair of jeans and a t-shirt that had the Black Widow on it. She'd thought about dressing up, but didn't want to appear too girly, but maybe she should have worn a dress, really prettied herself up so everyone thought Dolph was dating a really cute, pretty girl.

She was just about to bolt to her car and see if she had any other clothes when Dolph came up with a man beside him. Dolph grinned when he saw her, picking up his pace a little bit to reach her. She opened her arms just as he got to her, bending so he could slide his arms around her waist, lifting her up off the ground.

"You are a sight for sore eyes, and I mean that because I've been hanging around half-naked men too much, jk jk, it was half-naked women," he joked around as she wrapped her arms around his neck.

"Better not be."

"What, I can't help it if I'm the most popular diva around here," he told her, puling away so he could kiss her properly. "God, I've wanted to do that for days, I almost got so desperate I started to kiss my phone when I pulled a picture up of you, but then I found better uses for your pictures."

"Nicky," she blushed as she looked at the guy over his shoulder. She was suddenly aware that her feet were still dangling about a foot off the ground and squirmed out of his arms to get back to level ground. That didn't stop Dolph from wrapping his arms around her neck and leaning his chin on her head. She looked, really looked, at the other man for the first time and recognized him as Zack, one of Dolph's best friends.

"Yo, come on, dude, you're not even going to introduce me before you start sucking face with your girlfriend," Zack told his buddy, and she could feel Dolph's laughter over her head.

"Sorry, but you know how it is, man," Dolph pulled away from her again and stood next to her this time, his hand still on her upper back though. She found out about him and touching early in their relationship. He liked to have contact with her, whether it was just holding hands or leaning against her, he liked to know she was there. She never asked him about it, just accepted it as a facet of his personality, but maybe there was something to it. "AJ, this is my friend, Zack, whom you have seen get dumped very publicly on TV and pushed off the set while in a wheelchair and—"

"Wait, you told me she didn't watch wrestling before you started dating," Zack interrupted.

"Oh, no, she didn't, but she's been catching, and we've been watching some of the more…interesting highlights," Dolph joked and Zack glared at him. "What? It was a pretty big storyline."

"Yeah, sure, how about you and Chavo, did you show her that?"

"I've seen my caddy, yes," AJ said grinning up at her boyfriend who was now doing the glaring. "And I've seen the Spirit Squad, and I've seen his short-term relationship with Maria, and I've seen his long-term thing with Vickie, and that weird thing with Kaitlyn, I've seen it all. I've even seen some of his Kent State stuff."

"What the hell are you doing, brainwashing her?" Zack asked.

"I can't help it if my girlfriend is obsessed with me," Dolph said haughtily, "anyways, Zack, this is my favorite person in the world, AJ."

"It's finally nice to meet you," Zack said, politely shaking her hand, "this guy does not shut up about you. And a lot of us here are comic geeks, and he's not, so the fact that he has someone like you kind of bugs some of us."

"You're not getting her," Dolph told him, shaking his head, "you have a girlfriend anyways, sorry, come on, babe, I want to show you everything around here, not just this jerk…curtain jerk."

"Not cool, dude," Zack made a face, "just because some of us carry around a briefcase for the better part of a year does not make them better."

"Kind of does," Dolph joked with him. "Come on, babe, winners only tour, sorry, loser."

Dolph led her off, grabbing her hand. She'd never seen him happier. "You look like a kid in a candy store."

"I just can't believe you're actually here, where I work, you're going to see me wrestle live, right there, in the arena, I'm sorry, but it's honestly kind of cool," he told her, "and it's going to get you so ready for WrestleMania week. You're going to love every second of it, I promise you."

"I'm here with you, how can I have it better?" she asked. "I really missed you."

"I really missed you too," he told her. "Come on, the ring is set up, but I can show you where you'll be sitting later, and it's really cool, you can walk down the ramp, act like you're a diva, but you're better than any of the divas here."

"You don't know that."

"You're better to me," he shrugged as they walked down the hallway. Up ahead, Dolph spotted Vickie, and he called out her name, "Vick, hey, Vick!" Vickie turned around and smiled, waving them over. Dolph turned to AJ briefly. "You'll love Vickie, she's like the nicest person in the world."

"Okay," AJ nodded, kind of eager to meet the woman Dolph was paired with for so long. Dolph spoke very highly of their friendship, and she thought it sweet the bond they had with each other. Dolph led AJ over, and Vickie immediately smiled.

"You're much prettier than even he says," Vickie said as AJ held out her hand to shake. "Oh, none of that," Vickie waved her hand off and stepped forward to give AJ a hug. "I feel like I know you with the way this guy talks about you."

"I'm starting to think he talks about me a lot," AJ said, glancing over at her boyfriend, who was now a distinct shade of pink.

"All the time," Vickie said, "but don't worry, it's all nice things, and you are the cutest thing I've ever seen. He didn't do you any justice, this one."

"Vick," Dolph said, hoping she would stop, and AJ could see their friendship clear as day. Vickie was treating Dolph like a little brother.

"You better take care of this one, he's special," Vickie said, "and he's one of the good ones, don't let him tell you otherwise. I know he seems to think he's a bad guy, but he's not, right?"

"Not at all," AJ told her.

"Yeah, I know," Vickie looked slyly over at her friend, "so where are you two headed?"

"I'm taking her to see the ring."

"Oh, enjoy that," Vickie said, "and have fun tonight, I know this is your first show, you don't get those more than once, so enjoy it."

"I plan to," AJ said, "it was really nice to meet you."

"And you too, and I hope to get to see more of you, Dolph is one of the best guys around here, and if he's with you, you must be someone I want to know," Vickie smiled, winking at Dolph, who was now an even darker pink. AJ giggled as Dolph pulled her away probably to save himself from anymore embarrassment.

"She's so nice," AJ told him as they walked down the hallway. "You would never know it from her character, but she's just so nice."

"I know, she's great, and she really helped me too. She was married to Eddie Guerrero, he was this amazing wrestler and character, and well, she learned a lot from him. He died several years ago, it was really tragic."

"Oh, that's too bad," AJ said, frowning a little bit. "I'm glad she helped you though."

"Me too, and I got a friend for life," he said as they reached the gorilla. There were even more people around here, but they were so preoccupied, they hardly noticed the two of them. Dolph pulled her behind a curtain into a dark hallway lined with more of these blackout curtains. She felt blind, but he knew the way so intimately that before she knew it, they were on the set.

"Wow," she gasped, looking around at the entire arena. She saw this set every week when she watched the shows, but it was nothing compared to standing out there. She looked around in awe. "Now I know why you do this, this is incredible."

"If you were a diva, you'd be by my side, right?" he asked her.

"They wouldn't be able to stop me," she leaned up to kiss him.

"Come on, let's get you in the ring," he told her, pulling her down the ramp as she looked around at it all. She could just imagine thousands of people yelling and cheering (or booing if the case may be) later when he came out here. Dolph helped her up the steps and she gingerly climbed into the ring, feeling the give underneath, the slight bounce of it all.

"Wow," she spun around, taking it all in. "How do you do this every week?"

"It's all I've wanted to do," he told her, "everything I've done has been towards this. That's why I love it so much, that's why I love seeing that spark in your eyes whenever you watch."

"I think I get it," AJ said, "I can't even imagine how it must feel to be out here, to hear everyone, to know that all the eyes are on you. I think I would freak out a little every time I had do that. I'm not used to having a lot of eyes on me. I mean, I'm nothing special to look at or anything."

"Don't say that," he told her, stepping closer to her. "You're special to me."

"Yeah, but you're my boyfriend, you have to say that."

"No, I don't," he told her, wrapping his arms loosely around her. "I mean it. Tonight, when I'm performing, knowing you're going to be out here watching, that's more motivation than I've had in years. You are…"

"Yeah?"

"It's just to say," he told her, furrowing his brow.

"To say what?"

"I love you," he told her. "I love you, and I have for a while, and I can't believe I'm saying it here and now but I'm in the place that I love with the woman that I love, and it just seemed appropriate. You can feel free to say it back now so I don't look like the idiot standing here confessing his love to a girl—"

"I love you too."


End file.
